A treatment with a protease inhibitor recombinant from the cattle tick (Rhipicephalus Boophilus microplus) ameliorates emphysema in mice.

ABSTRACT:

Aims

To determine whether a serine protease inhibitor treatment can prevent or minimize emphysema in mice.

Methods

C57BL/6 mice were subjected to porcine pancreatic elastase (PPE) nasal instillation to induce emphysema and were treated with a serine protease inhibitor (rBmTI-A) before (Protocol 1) and after (Protocol 2) emphysema development. In both protocols, we evaluated lung function to evaluate the airway resistance (Raw), tissue damping (Gtis) and tissue elastance (Htis). The inflammatory profile was analyzed in the bronchoalveolar lavage (BALF) and through the use of morphometry; we measured the mean linear intercept (Lm) (to verify alveolar enlargement), the volume proportion of collagen and elastic fibers, and the numbers of macrophages and metalloprotease 12 (MMP-1

SUBMITTER: Lourenco JD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4041648 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature